January 25, 2004
Norway has won the 2004 Hong Kong Carlsberg Cup after defeating Honduras 3-1 in the Final.
Norway reached the Final after defeating Sweden 3-0 while Honduras reached the Final defeating Hong Kong first 11 1-0.
Norway could have taken the after the 3 minute but the goal was ruled offside. However Norway dominated the match after that & deservedly took the lead when Harald Brattbakk scored after 25 minutes of the 1st half. Honduras equalized 5 minutes later through Saul Martínez when the Norway defenders make a mess of a long ball from the Honduras midfield. After that Honduras pressured Norway but before the 1st half was over, Norway retook the lead again in the 39 minutes from a corner when the Honduras goalkeeper failed to claim the ball after coming off his line allowing Frode Johnsen to head it into an empty net.
The 2nd half saw a more even battle between Norway & Honduras. Both sides had their own chances to either killed off the match or get back into it but poor finishing saw the scoreline remained the same. Norway had scored a goal in the 63 minutes but it was rightly ruled offside. Still Norway could not be denied as they got their 3rd goal in the 85 minutes through Magne Hoset & with that killed off any hopes Honduras had to take the match into P.K.
After this victory in the 2004 Hong Kong Carlsberg Cup, Norway will be coming to Singapore in a confident mood. It has showed that the 2nd string Norway team is as strong as the Norway 1st national team.